The transportation of objects, such as packages, luggage, boxes and other goods from one place to another by a common carrier, or the like, is an expensive operation. As can be easily understood, the object's dimensions and/or volume may be as important, or more so, than the weight of the object. For example, many modes of transportation have a weight limit that will never be met or exceeded if objects of relatively low density are being transported. In other words, the object's dimensions and/or volume may be more of a limiting factor in terms of the number of transported items, than weight. For many years, however, the weight of an object has been nearly the sole means for assessing the cost of shipping an object. Given the high cost of fuel and the limited amount of space for objects, carriers now want to be able to more accurately include the dimensions and/or volume into the amount charged for such a shipment.
Obtaining an object's dimensions and/or volume is not typically fast, easy, or without error. This fact is a primary reason why many shippers have failed to incorporate the object's dimensions and/or volume into any fee calculations. For example, when the object is a simple box shape, a person may use a tape measure to obtain dimensions for the box's height, width and depth. The usefulness of the tape measure or other physical measuring device is not typically an accurate means for measuring objects having a complex shape such as a pyramid, any shape with rounded corners, a shape with projections occurring along a side surfaces, etc. Of course, in a laboratory setting, a technician could have an object's volume measured by submerging the object into a liquid and measuring the volume of the displaced liquid. This method would, of course, be incompatible with most objects sent via a common carrier on a daily basis, and would not provide the objects linear dimensions, which may be more important than the object's volume.
As a result of these challenges, carriers have taken an approach of roughly approximating an overall box size or envelope that encompasses the object having a complex shape. Other carriers have adopted the use of a template enclosure, which is used to determine merely whether an object is oversized (i.e., will not fit within the template). These approaches are, however, merely rough approximations.
Carriers attempting to increase profits must have a way to quickly obtain an object's dimensions and/or volume regardless of whether the object is of a complex shape. Knowing the approximate dimensions and/or volume of an object allows the carrier to more efficiently fill containers and more appropriately charge consumers for the space required by their object. Further, the process of obtaining such measurements can not add additional time to the overall process flow in such a manner that eliminates the gains achieved by the accurate measurements. In light of the foregoing, it should be easy to see that accurate and fast measurements of an object to be shipped may allow a carrier to remain profitable during times of increased energy costs, increased labor costs, and constant consumer pressure to reduce costs.